THE LIBRARY

If you want to get the skinny on who or what's rocking London design-wise then Max Fraser's London Design Guide should be your first port of call...

BY DEE IVA

The London Design Guide is an in-depth commentary on the city’s thriving design scene by industry insider Max Fraser (right). Now in its fourth edition, its new larger format, designed by Richard Ardagh Studio, gives Fraser's shrewd content more room to breathe with magazine style layouts that are clear, punchy and easy to navigate.

Colourful section openers announce each design district (the guide is divided into different areas of London, focusing on the shops, galleries, exhibition spaces, design-led restaurants, bars and hotels that populate that part of town) and there are interviews with key players such as Barber Osgerby, Ross Lovegrove and Ilse Crawford as well as figures from the newer wave of British design (think Fredrikson Stallard and Lee Broom).

Handy colour-coded maps show you where the action is in each ’hood and ‘stop and think’ features cover diverse subjects from the state of the London housing market to the rise of creative start-ups in the capital.

Few people have as much access to the leading lights of the design industry as Fraser – an author, curator, consultant and former Deputy Director of the London Design Festival – so this really is an essential addition to your reading list. If it’s hot, it’s here…'London Design Guide' by Max Fraser (Spotlight Press, £15) londondesignguide.com

DesignFizz

DesignFizz is an international celebration of design. New products, cool places and spaces, design stores and destinations, design and art events, hip hotels, restaurants, bars, street style and music, this is your essential guide to what's hot in the world of contemporary design.

ABOVE: Coral pink (Pantone 16-1546) is Pantone’s Colour Of The Year for 2019. Symbolising comfort, warmth and joy this soothing hue is most welcome in these politically uncertain times. Expect to see an outbreak of this nurturing colour across all facets of interiors this year. From rugs to paint colours, from lighting to furniture it looks like we’ll be in the pink in 2019.pantone.com